Chris Hipkins Is Right
Chris Hipkins is not Jacinda Ardern. His small bore policies may not even reward Labour in 2026 vote share. But 2026 is the right time for the Chris Hipkins school of politics.
Politics
political parties
Calculated cruelty
National has announced two populist cruel policies today of benefit cuts for beneficiaries on the Jobseeker benefit for over two years and random drug testing for beneficiaries.
The Leader’s debate
Some thoughts on the first Leader’s debate, essentially to agree with Thomas Coughlan that Luxon is leading National to a defeat and this debate did not help.
Green Party policy: Reconnecting Aotearoa
The Greens’ transport policy introduces a quantum leap on climate and public good.
To overhang or not to overhang, that’s the question
National has a snowball’s chance in hell of creating an overhang for its nefarious need to lead Coalition Mark II.
The Race for Tamaki
Normally the seat of Tamaki is won by the right but given a potential vote split, a Teal type response to the right’s culture war campaigns and an outstanding campaign by Labour’s Max Harris anything is possible.
The Race for Mt Albert
A Spinoff poll suggests that the race for Mt Albert is a clear choice between Labour’s Helen White and National’s Melissa Lee.
How Could Labour Pay for Transport Without Raising Fuel Taxes?
Labour has promised it will not raise fuel taxes across the next Parliamentary term. That’s a basic cost-of-living politics move. But it’s going to hurt the transport system.
Opportunity’s five bottom lines
This is OP practicing what they preach: rebuilding trust in politics. It looks odd because we are so used to Peters’ centrist grandiosity, power-mongering and manipulating MMP while actively undermining other parties. OP are doing something completely different.
Nicola Willis high on a surplus of inflation and unemployment
The PREFU reveals an approaching Nicola Willis surplus based on inflation and fiscal drag. It has nothing to do with economic growth. Meanwhile our young adults are experiencing the joys of very high and sustained unemployment. The same kind of environment that stunted the generation in National’s recession of the 1990s. This time we have a rapidly ageing population. And Nicola Willis in fantasy land.
Watch Waitaki
Damien O’Connor has a unique chance to wrest the safe seat of Waitaki off National’s Miles Anderson.
The Latest One News Verian Poll
It’s only one poll, but it’s broadly in line with other recent polls.
Talking up the left
Do we want a change of government or not?
Stanford gets caught out
This week, a video emerged of a senior official telling staff not to document draft curriculum rewrites exchanged between Erica Stanford’s office and the Ministry of Education, to avoid OIA disclosure. Recent changes also suggest education is being politicised in an offensive way.
National’s LNG terminal tax is on hold (for the moment).
National proposed building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Port Taranaki. Ostensibly for dry year support for the electricity generators. National were planning to have this signed up before the election. Act and NZ First appear to have quashed that. The outrage of consumers to being taxed yet again by the National government for their piss-poor 1990s energy management broke through?
Unmasking the TaxPayers Union as the Tobacco Protection Union
The most interesting thing so far about Hagers’ Dirty Work book has been revelation of the extent that the Tobacco industry funds the Taxpayers Union and the people operating it. It appears that the organisation should be regarded as an organisation dedicated to killing citizens with tobacco products.
National’s pro climate change obsession
Despite the Iranian war threatening supplies, the Methanex plant closure creating an LNG surplus for the foreseeable future, and enabling legislation still pending, National wants to rush through a construction contract for the LNG terminal before the next election.
Is the Opportunity Party left wing?
With Opportunity Party consistently polling above the 5% threshold, the left should be looking at who OP is and what their policy is instead of just reacting against them.
Comrade Christopher and the breakup of Foodstuffs
Christopher Luxon’s announcement that if re-elected National would move to break up Foodstuffs has met resistence from within his caucus, from the Act Party and from some of the party’s strongest and best resourced supporters.
Kiwisaver and the 2026 Election
A review of its behaviour over time shows that National can’t be trusted with your Kiwisaver.
The problem with foreign funded polls
Why does our media allow potentially foreign funded polls that are out of kilter with other polling results to affect local political discourse?
Why does National despise the poor?
Under National the MSD thinks that food is not an essential need. And it pushed through under urgency a botched up law change which cut the benefits for tens of thousands of elderly kiwis.
The Right is winning the bullshit media narrative
Last weekend saw a continuation of right wing parties coming out with inane policy announcements that make a media splash without any hard questions being asked.
Greens launch plan to break up the supermarket duopoly and bring down the price of food
“The Green Party has today announced a plan to break up the supermarket duopoly by creating a publicly owned supermarket chain called KiwiMart, as part of its Affordable Kai election policy”
Government makes Move On Orders Bill less shit
This week the Government reluctantly reversed its intent to allow homeless teenagers to be prosecuted if they did not move to somewhere less safe when required to move on by police.
Labour will guarantee a job for graduate nurses
“Nurses who trained here should be able to work here. A good job. A future here at home. Better starts now.” – Chris Hipkins
Elon Musk would be pleased with Opportunity Party’s Data Centre policy
The Opportunities Party wishes to enrich Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Larry Ellison by giving them tax breaks to establish data centres in Aotearoa.
Homelessness kills
Very sad recent news from yesterday. Three homeless people in Aotearoa, the land of plenty, have recently frozen to death.
How To Ensure Power Shifts
There is now a 50-50 chance that the government will change in November 2026, and Labour must have the plan to fully shift power beyond Parliament. This is how you do it.
Winning the battle but losing the war
Christopher Luxon may have kept the National Party leadership yesterday but National’s chances in this year’s election just became much worse.
Will he stay or will he go?
Christopher Luxon’s decision to call a National Caucus meeting this morning to vote on his leadership may result in him being forced to walk the plank.
Luxon, Yahoo and Numpty
Christopher Luxon completed a week from Hell by calling his coleaders Yahoo and Numpty and obliterating Media coverage of the announcement of the opening of Auckland’s City Rail Tunnel and of new industry designed school subjects.
A Labour Government Is Good For Business
In the week that the Prime Minister offended small business, unemployment rose to 170,000 and over 6% in the North Island, and the Reserve Bank continues to raise interest rates, Labour showed, again, why the public knows they are better for small business than any other party.
Does Policy Still Win the 2026 Election?
In a 2026 election beset already by bombast and hyperbole, is the big-policy-first approach of the left still working?
Uber Air Force One
It has been disclosed that Christopher Luxon used an Air Force plane to fly him from a National Party fundraiser in Whanganui to his home in Auckland.
Luxon’s biggest problem is Luxon
As we enter the home strait for the 2026 election National strategists must be thinking “what the f*(k do we do from here”? Because Christopher Luxon’s complete indifference to the difficulties businesses are facing and his inability to control Winston Peters are harming National’s reelection prospects big time.